scubacruiserx2

Cruising into Ushuaia Which way do we go ?

After passing Holandia Glacier their was an island astern and the water grew very calm and thick . You can see it in this map that also shows a line where Chile ends and Argentia begins . And as you can see , Ushuaia is in Argentina . https://www.google.com/maps/place/Holanda+Glacier/@-54.9240379,-68.8708742,10z/data=!4m6!3m5!1s0xbc4dc527204d3487:0xba7abdc3f625506f!8m2!3d-54.916667!4d-69.1166669!16s%2Fm%2F0j44515?entry=ttu We were moving very slowly and the images of the wake in the water seemed to take on a life of their own

Tidewater Glacier and mountain top views

Almania Glacier

Glacier Alley on the Canal Beagle First Glacier is Romanche It's the only glacier that I have seen with a cascade of water flowing from it

It was cloudy just before sunset the night before Ushuaia . But then it suddenly cleared just before sunset

Our next scheduled stop after Punta Arenas is Ushuaia . It doesn't show Glacier Alley on the way on our NCL printout , but all 3 times before we have cruised by and it is spectacular on a good day . We saw sleet the day before these photos and the port was closed the day before we arrived but , it was open and beautiful for us .

You are welcome . We chose to go South for the cooler weather ( And the sights ) . After our cruise on the Star we are scheduled for a quickie tour with lunch and a flight from the Downtown Airport to El Calafate 3 hours away . Spend the night and cruise the next morning in a smaller boat on a 5 glacier cruise day cruise . The following morning is an all day visit to Torres del Paine with a guide . The last time it was about 12 -16 hours with a border crossing 2 times . The following day we are scheduled to rent a car to go to the Perito Moreno Glacier . The day after is a 3 hour drive across Patagonia to El Chalten for 2 nights . There are NO gas stations for 3 hours , so we will be praying all the way . Leave El Chalten back to the El Calafate Airport for our return flight to B.A at 1400 . Hopefully arrive B.A. at 1700 for 1 night . Leave B. A. the next morning at 0800 for MIA and arrive @ 1500 . Catch the Brightline train to West Palm Beach where hopefully meet our oldest Grandson for the ride home . There , we hope to catch our breath !! This trip reminds me of one of my favorite songs in1965 from high school . In fact we almost borrowed ( I believe the new expression is Sampled ) the title of the song to call our thread . This is the 1st version I heard of the song a year before Dione Warwick made it a standard . But I still like the Billy J.Kramer version best .

Before the salad was served ( or we drank the Pisco Sours in front of us on the table ) , I excused myself for a couple of quick photos of where we were eating . Where the bus was parked The bridge that we had to walk cross to get to the food The place where we ate Volcanic beach The Chilean flag looks like the Texas State flag Our final photo of the horns this trip . The darker rock on the top is Sedimentary on top of Granite below If you see any of this in a supermarket or liquor store you may want to buy it . It taste like a Whiskey Sour but it is very strong and has uncooked egg whites that form a froth on top . It is premixed and you just shake it . It was not confiscated when we returned to the ship .

Being good cruisers - it was time to eat . This was the group from our plane . Daniel and Sarah were seated across from us . Daniel is from South America and Sarah from Australia where they currently live . We did a couple of tous with them and we both have open invitations to visit each other if we ever get to Sydney . Or they ever get to Florida . After the cruise their son was getting married in S.A. and we were headed to El Calafate to see the glaciers there . We started with Hearts of Palms salad . Where they get palms from in Patagonia we don't know .

Yes , on the Zaandam in 2013 . We called NCL and they do not offer the trip . It was expensive about $1000 p.p. . We did visit it again on our 2018 /2019 cruise to Antarctica and the Falklands before the cruise on the Zaandam again . Our plans are to visit it again after the cruise on the NCL Star . Best wishes for a Joyful holiday season !

The Paine River rapids

You're welcome , I think is served buffet style . We hope to share some photos of the Falklands and Antarctica before we leave on Thursday the 4th .

Getting closer The Torres ( The towers of granite ) Our first look at the Horns ( Los Cuernos )

They can run much faster than a human at 35 mph. This Gucano was mellow . Guanacos stand between 1.0 and 1.3 m (3 ft 3 in and 4 ft 3 in) at the shoulder, body length of 2.1 to 2.2 m (6 ft 11 in to 7 ft 3 in),[7][8][9] and weigh 90 to 140 kg (200 to 310 lb).[10 Wikipedia We don't know if they were racing us or each other

Our first sighting of the Paine Massif Dusty Roads and a long ride https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torres_del_Paine_National_Park

A Merry Christmas to All people

At the Puerto Natales air field we some bath rooms and a bus to take us to the park We had hoped that this would be our flight back but no such luck The first photo form the bus was a cattle drive 1st wildlife was a Rhea Mr and Mrs Condor enjoying a snack A Crested Caracara

Unfortunately NCL doesn't offer the trip to Torres del Paine that we took on the HAL Zaandam . We will so it in hopes that NCL will see it and consider it in the future and to show you why we plan on visiting it after our cruise on the Star . It was cool , windy and rainy that morning in P.A. Chile .We had hoped to make the 1 hour flight on the larger DHC twin Otter plane . But we wound up in the smaller Cessna with a pilot that had plenty of experence . I had hoped that I could sit next to my wife but I had told the Pilot that I had trained and flown in the Air Rescue helicoper as a flight medic , so he wanted me to sit up front with him . My wife sat in the back and took a nice shot of the back of my head . It made us feel better that one of the ship's officers was on our flight ( the lady on the right in the blue jacket ) . After all , one of the ship's officers would want his wife to be on the safer plane , right ? Here is the view from my seat . It rained the whole flight so the flight was IFR . So nothing to see except the instruments .

A lot of chicks live here Future chicks An alarm clock Two's company But three's a crowd Synchronized sunbathing Marta Island

We don't normally recommend the ship's tours as we prefer to travel in smaller groups which sometimes cost more . Economics 101 , more people = a lower price . We tend to prefer the quality and freedom of a smaller group even if it costs more . On our last cruise we see penquins in 4 places and this was our least favorite . The way that Solo expeditions did business was no prepay and cash only meant 2 bus loads of people lined up waiting to pay and then waiting to board the 2 busses . The trip on the small boats was bouncy with some sea sickness . You only spend 1 hour with the Magellanic penquins and lots of people . We think that the cruise ships boat may be less prone to sea sickness and we belive that they have a bathroom which the small boats didn't as I recall . Lighthouse and bathrooms we think We believe that the large boat was the cruise ships tour

We will show a couple of options in Punta Arenas today .

The next scheduled stop on our future cruise is Punta Arenas , Chile . The NCL Star is currently in port at B.A . ready to sail on a 16 day trip to Antarctica . We are scheduled to board after they return . You can see them now and track them here . https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9195157

The monument area where we took the shot of the ship from . Escort service This cloud looked like a hurricane in the sky The sunset

After returning to the cruise port we asked our guide if there was a place to take a profile photo of our ship and he took us here to this monument . Patagonia was inhabited by the indigenous Tehuelche, the subject of the sculpture. Our ship from the monument area When we got back to our ship this guy was lounging on the bulbous bow .